Aurora Prospects 2012

TURRICAN

That's pretty bright for 3am in Ireland,I'd love to see that this weekend camping.

PixelTrawler

Either Moonlight or the exposures pushed. I've taken Aurora photos in full moon and its amazing how bright it can look

Like this one from Iceland - full moon was behind me - you can see a lot of colour on the mountain
http://500px.com/photo/6186457

Rikand

Am flying from san diego to heathrow on wednesday night/thursday morning.

Any chance of seeing the aurora on my flight?

[flight path on the way over was iceland/greenland/hudson bay - assuming we fly a similar way back]

Elmer Blooker

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Solar activity is low at the moment but there's still a chance between Sept 18th and 22nd according to spaceweather (read the bit under the photo)
Obviously you will need a window seat, as you are flying from west to east your best bet would be to sit on the left side of the plane.

Rikand

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

http://www.spaceweather.com/o

Solar activity is low at the moment but there's still a chance between Sept 18th and 22nd according to spaceweather (read the bit under the photo)
Obviously you will need a window seat, as you are flying from west to east your best bet would be to sit on the left side of the plane.

Yeah not sure where we are seated yet but since its a big plane i was planning on heading towards one of the emergency exits in the cabin crew areas to look out regardless.

Thanka for the link. If conditions are good i will try grab a few pictures for ya'll

Iancar29

Strong Aurora activity atm up around the arctic, some would be visible here in Ireland if it was clear.

Current view of ABisko Sky station ( where i was back in January)
Brings all the excitement back seeing it flaring up , makes me want to be back there!

http://www.auroraskystation.com/live-camera/9/

Rikand

Iancar29 wrote: »

Strong Aurora activity atm up around the arctic, some would be visible here in Ireland if it was clear.

Current view of ABisko Sky station ( where i was back in January)
Brings all the excitement back seeing it flaring up , makes me want to be back there!

http://www.auroraskystation.com/live-camera/9/

Awesome. Will definately try get some pictures so

MiNdGaM3

To have clear skies now!

Rikand

stayed awake until daybreak and saw absolutely nothing

we were just on the west coast of Greenland when day broke so I should have saw something surely when we crossed over Canadia ?

oh well

eskimocat

Rickylovesuall wrote: »

stayed awake until daybreak and saw absolutely nothing

we were just on the west coast of Greenland when day broke so I should have saw something surely when we crossed over Canadia ?

oh well

Hard luck, that would have been class... what a spot to spot them from...

I am travelling to Iceland in a few weeks time and so looking forward to sky watching!! Hopefully there is a good show and no cloud cover!!

maquiladora

From Spaceweather.com today :

QUIET SUN: Considering the fact that 2012 is thought to be on the threshold of solar maximum, the sun is strangely quiet. None of the spots on the solar disk is actively flaring, continuing a weeks-long pattern of low activity.

Not great news for Aurora watchers. Interesting though....

fits

I'm pretty sure I saw the aurora this evening but I couldnt get out of town as I have no transport and it disappeared again. (I'm in Finland)

maquiladora

Can't believe I missed the epic fireball last night Half of boards has seen it according to the thread in Astronomy.

lolie

From Spaceweather.com:
INCOMING SOLAR STORM CLOUD: Magnetic fields around sunspot 1577 erupted on Sept. 28th, hurling a coronal mass ejection (CME) almost directly toward Earth. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) recorded the cloud as it raced away from the sun faster than 2.2 million mph:
NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of strong geomagnetic storms around the poles on Sept 30th when the cloud reaches Earth. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras, which might be intense enough to see in spite of the full moonlight.

From Met.ie:
SUNDAY NIGHT : Cool on Sunday night with showers in parts of the west and north, but mostly dry in the east and south with clear spells. Cool with lows of 6 to 9 degrees.

Worth keeping an eye on, hopefully we get to see something.
Big full moon though which wont help.

fits

Aurora might make an appearance tonight in northern parts if the sky is clear. KP index is at four and rising...

homer simpson

fits wrote: »

Aurora might make an appearance tonight in northern parts if the sky is clear. KP index is at four and rising...

Not much hope of that, Cloudy all evening so far, decent breeze so might clear but very unlikely!

muckish

Full Moon is too bright. It's drowning out anything if anything is showing.

Iancar29

Secondary impact by the looks of it! , dont lose all hope!!

Iancar29

Definitely stronger this one! , Bz has dived south!! :eek:

Iancar29

the Kp index peaked at 7 last nigth at about 2am!!!

ANyone see anything?!!.... though i think at that time the Bz was north again...

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/207463/222618.png

Iancar29

the Kp index peaked at 7 last nigth at about 2am!!!

ANyone see anything?!!.... though i think at that time the Bz was north again...

Pangea

It was cloudy last night when I looked out.

http://worldirish.com/story/12599-aurora-borealis-lights-up-mayos-night-sky

slimboyfat

Seen in Mayo according to this http://spaceweather.com/gallery/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=71946

fits

Iancar29 wrote: »

the Kp index peaked at 7 last nigth at about 2am!!!

ANyone see anything?!!.... though i think at that time the Bz was north again...

DAMMIT!!! fecking clouds grr

Rikand

Twas clear over athlone and thought i saw a faint light to the northwest around 2 am but couldnt be sure

PixelTrawler

The shot from Mayo looks very like this shot from Scotland
http://spaceweather.com/gallery/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=72009

So the mayo shot looks legit. Very impressive Aurora for these parts

Iancar29

Rickylovesuall wrote: »

Twas clear over athlone and thought i saw a faint light to the northwest around 2 am but couldnt be sure

Awh no way , i'd say that was it and all , Brian that took the photo in Mayo said it peaked for about 10 mins around half 2 before cloud rolled in.

Its so frustrating knowing i could be seeing it if only i could drive and go out of the city lights by a few miles !... Grrrr!

Wolfe_IRE

A Non Earth directed CME TODAY at 8:24 am GMT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TwR6zQrHNo

fits

The merrie dancers are out tonight. can be seen in Ireland too apparently.

tylercollins

IanCar is reporting on Facebook he's seeing them from North of Dublin!

Too cloudy here in Tyrone